SHIELD of the BLACK PRINCE

BLACK PRINCE SHIELD by ART GLADIUSThis type of shield is called a kite shield and examples of it can be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry which illustrates the events of the Norman conquest of England around 1066. Our shield also features the coat of arms of Edward, The Black Prince, eldest son of King Edward III and father to King Richard II. These beautifully decorated shields are fabricated in steel and feature a variety of bronzed-steel embossing and baked-enamel finishes. They are equipped with chain hangers and brackets for attaching one or two swords to the back of the shield. The Black Prince shield measures 31-1/2 inches in height, 18 inches wide and weighs approx 8 lbs.

Black Prince (1330 - 1376) Edward, Prince of Wales, is remembered by some as a great chivalric hero of British history, and an able commander with notable victories at the Battles of Crecy and Poitiers. The son of Edward III, king of England from 1327, who himself never ruled as king because he died a year before his father.At the Battle of Crécy, which was fought on the 26th August following, King Edward, desirous that his noble son should "win his spurs," gave him the command of the van, with the counsel and assistance of the Earl of Warwick and Sir John Chandos. The tradition near the spot is, that the King had ordered the Prince to wear, on that day, a black cuirass, richly ornamented; and that, from this incident, he retained the surname attributed to him in history. The defeat of the enemy is known to have been complete; and the delighted father, embracing his son on the field of victory, eulogised his valour and pronounced him worthy of empire.